scholarly journals LOCUS AND STATE OF AGGREGATION OF MYOSIN IN TISSUE SECTIONS OF VERTEBRATE SMOOTH MUSCLE

1970 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard J. Panner ◽  
Carl R. Honig

Structures with the characteristics of molecular myosin were identified by electron microscopy in tissue sections of vertebrate smooth muscle. No thick filaments of myosin were found regardless of preparative procedures, which included fixation at rest and in contraction, glycerine extraction, and storage at low pH prior to fixation. Absence of thick myosin filaments and presence of what appear to be myosin molecules is in accord with conclusions based on X-ray diffraction (3, 12) and birefringence data (4) from living smooth muscles at rest and in contraction. Explanations are provided for appearances thought by others (6, 20, 21) to represent thick myosin filaments. Our present observations are in accord with the model for smooth muscle contraction which we have previously proposed (1).

1967 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 71-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. E. Huxley

The sliding filament model for muscular contraction supposes that an appropriately directed force is developed between the actin and myosin filaments by some process in which the cross-bridges are involved. The cross-bridges between the filaments are believed to represent the parts of the myosin molecules which possess the active sites for ATPase activity and actin-binding ability, and project out sidewise from the backbone of the thick filaments. The arrangement of the cross-bridges is now being studied by improved low-angle X-ray diffraction techniques, which show that in a resting muscle, they are arranged approximately but not exactly in a helical pattern, and that there are other structural features of the thick filaments which give rise to additional long periodicities shown up by the X-ray diagram. The actin filaments also contain helically arranged subunits, and both the subunit repeat and the helical repeat are different from those in the myosin filaments. Diffraction diagrams can be obtained from muscles in rigor (when permanent attachment of the cross-bridges to the actin subunits takes place) and now, taking advantage of the great increase in the speed of recording, from actively contracting muscles. These show that changes in the arrangement of the cross-bridges are produced under both these conditions and are no doubt associated in contraction with the development of force. Thus configurational changes of the myosin component in muscle have been demonstrated: these take place without any significant over-all change in the length of the filaments.


2015 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Nikolic-Kokic ◽  
Zorana Orescanin-Dusic ◽  
Ivan Spasojevic ◽  
Dusko Blagojevic ◽  
Zorica Stevic ◽  
...  

In this work we compared the mutated liver copper zinc-containing superoxide dismutase (SOD1) protein G93A of the transgenic rat model of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS), to wild-type (WT) rat SOD1. We examined their enzymatic activities and effects on isometric contractions of uteri of healthy virgin rats. G93A SOD1 showed a slightly higher activity than WT SOD1 and, in contrast to WT SOD1, G93A SOD1 did not induce smooth muscle relaxation. This result indicates that effects on smooth muscles are not related to SOD1 enzyme activity and suggest that heterodimers of G93A SOD1 form an ion-conducting pore that diminishes the relaxatory effects of SOD1. We propose that this type of pathogenic feedback affects neurons in FALS.


1989 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-401
Author(s):  
R.W. Kensler ◽  
M. Stewart

A procedure has been developed for isolating gold-fish skeletal muscle thick filaments that preserves the near-helical arrangement of the myosin cross-bridges under relaxing conditions. These filaments have been examined by electron microscopy and computer image analysis. Electron micrographs of the negatively stained filaments showed a clear periodicity associated with the crossbridges, with an axial repeat every 42.9 nm. Computed Fourier transforms of the negatively stained filaments showed a series of layer lines confirming this periodicity, and were similar to the X-ray diffraction patterns of fish muscle obtained by J. Hartford and J. Squire. Analysis of the computed transform data and filtered images of the isolated fish filaments demonstrated that the myosin crossbridges lie along three strands. Platinum shadowing demonstrated that the strands have a right-handed orientation, and computed transforms and filtered images of the shadowed filaments suggest that the crossbridges are perturbed both axially and azimuthally from an ideal helical arrangement.


1968 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Kelly ◽  
Robert V. Rice

Thick myosin filaments, in addition to actin filaments, were found in sections of glycerinated chicken gizzard smooth muscle when fixed at a pH below 6.6. The thick filaments were often grouped into bundles and run in the longitudinal axis of the smooth muscle cell. Each thick filament was surrounded by a number of thin filaments, giving the filament arrangement a rosette appearance in cross-section. The exact ratio of thick filaments to thin filaments could not be determined since most arrays were not so regular as those commonly found in striated muscle. Some rosettes had seven or eight thin filaments surrounding a single thick filament. Homogenates of smooth muscle of chicken gizzard also showed both thick and thin filaments when the isolation was carried out at a pH below 6.6, but only thin filaments were found at pH 7.4. No Z or M lines were observed in chicken gizzard muscle containing both thick and thin filaments. The lack of these organizing structures may allow smooth muscle myosin to disaggregate readily at pH 7.4.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guiyun Yi ◽  
Baolin Xing ◽  
Jianbo Jia ◽  
Liwei Zhao ◽  
Yuanfeng Wu ◽  
...  

Macroporous TiO2photocatalyst was synthesized by a facile nanocasting method using polystyrene (PS) spherical particles as the hard template. The synthesized photocatalyst was characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetry-differential thermogravimetry (TG-DTG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and N2-sorption. TEM, SEM, and XRD characterizations confirmed that the macroporous TiO2photocatalyst is composed of anatase phase. The high specific surface area of 87.85 m2/g can be achieved according to the N2-sorption analysis. Rhodamine B (RhB) was chosen as probe molecule to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of the TiO2catalysts. Compared with the TiO2materials synthesized in the absence of PS spherical template, the macroporous TiO2photocatalyst sintered at 500°C exhibits much higher activity on the degradation of RhB under the UV irradiation, which can be assigned to the well-structured macroporosity. The macroporous TiO2material presents great potential in the fields of environmental remediation and energy conversion and storage.


2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (3) ◽  
pp. G887-G898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel P. Poole ◽  
John B. Furness

PKC is involved in mediating the tonic component of gastrointestinal smooth muscle contraction in response to stimulation by agonists for G protein-coupled receptors. Here, we present pharmacological and immunohistochemical evidence indicating that a member of the novel PKC isoforms, PKC-δ, is involved in maintaining muscarinic receptor-coupled tonic contractions of the guinea pig ileum. The tonic component of carbachol-evoked contractions was enhanced by an activator of conventional and novel PKCs, phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu; 200 nM or 1 μM), and by an activator of novel PKCs, ingenol 3,20-dibenzoate (IDB; 100 or 500 nM). Enhancement was unaffected by concentrations of bisindolylmaleimide I (BIM-I; 22 nM) that block conventional PKCs or by a PKC-ε-specific inhibitor peptide but was attenuated by higher doses of BIM-I (2.2 μM). Relevant proteins were localized at a cellular and subcellular level using confocal analysis. Immunohistochemical staining of the ileum showed that PKC-δ was exclusively expressed in smooth muscles distributed throughout the layers of the gut wall. PKC-ε immunoreactivity was prominent in enteric neurons but was largely absent from smooth muscle of the muscularis externa. Treatment with PDBu, IDB, or carbachol resulted in a time- and concentration-dependent translocation of PKC-δ from the cytoplasm to filamentous structures within smooth muscle cells. These were parallel to, but distinct from, actin filaments. The translocation of PKC-δ in response to carbachol was significantly reduced by scopolamine or calphostin C. The present study indicates that the tonic carbachol-induced contraction of the guinea pig ileum is mediated through a novel PKC, probably PKC-δ.


1984 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 241-247
Author(s):  
D. S. Dunn ◽  
T. F. Marinis

We have automated a Seeman-Bohlin Guinier x-ray diffractometer by interfacing it to a minimally configured PDP 11/23 computer. The programs that run on the microcomputer to control the operation of the diffractometer are stored on a mainframe host running the UNIX+ operating system. A software interface allows a particular data acquisition program to be downloaded from the UNIX host and executed on the satellite processor. This same interface allows the collected data to be periodically off-loaded to the host for processing and storage.


1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (S2) ◽  
pp. 438-439
Author(s):  
R.A. Horowitz ◽  
C.M. Powers ◽  
P. Valero ◽  
R. Craig

Smooth muscle is a machine consisting of working and supporting elements whose structure and 3D organization must be elucidated for the mechanics of shortening and tension generation to be understood. Based on longitudinal and serial transverse sections of rabbit portal vein it was suggested that the contractile elements of smooth muscle formed “mini-sarcomeres”, analogous to skeletal muscle, containing parallel arrays of 3-5 myosin filaments 1.6-2.2 um long. Observations at the light microscopic level were consistent with this idea. The past decade has seen little further investigation into the in situ ultrastructure of this or other smooth muscles, and the general applicability of these findings remains unknown. We have taken advantage of recent methodological advances, which can provide full 3D computer representations of cellular organization based on EM data, using guinea pig taenia coli muscle as a model system.Serial transverse sections (Fig 1) were used to generate 3D reconstructions of the organization of the myosin filaments and their relation to dense bodies, actin bundles, mitochondria and other organelles.


2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (8) ◽  
pp. 1053-1059 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin-Lu Qian ◽  
Zhi-Xiang Wang ◽  
Hai-Xin Tian ◽  
Min Li ◽  
Bao-Long Li ◽  
...  

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted much interest in the fields of gas separation and storage, catalysis synthesis, nonlinear optics, sensors, luminescence, magnetism, photocatalysis gradation and crystal engineering because of their diverse properties and intriguing topologies. A Cu–MOF, namely poly[[(μ2-succinato-κ2 O:O′){μ2-tris[4-(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)phenyl]amine-κ2 N:N′}copper(II)] dihydrate], {[Cu(C4H4O4)(C24H18N10)]·2H2O} n or {[Cu(suc)(ttpa)]·2H2O} n , (I), was synthesized by the hydrothermal method using tris[4-(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)phenyl]amine (ttpa) and succinate (suc2−), and characterized by IR, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), luminescence, optical band gap and valence band X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (VB XPS). Cu–MOF (I) shows a twofold interpenetrating 4-coordinated three-dimensional CdSO4 topology with point symbol {65·8}. It presents good photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB) under visible-light irradiation. A photocatalytic mechanism was proposed and confirmed.


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